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16.12.08

Pricing tables play an important role for every company that offers products or services. They are a challenge from both a design and usability standpoint. They must be simple but at the same time clearly differentiate between features and prices of different products and services.
A pricing table should help users pick the most appropriate plan for them. A company should carefully examine its product portfolio and pick the most important features to present in its pricing plans. Visitors should be given only the information they would be interested in: available features, options and costs. The rule of thumb is: every unnecessary cell in your pricing table increases the probability of losing potential customers, because you make it more difficult for them to compare various plans and select the best one.
Once you have identified the most important features, go ahead and create a more detailed list of features for users who are interested in a particular plan. Users must know what kind of a product they are spending their money on and all of the features associated with it.
For a good grounding in exactly how to design and present a pricing table, let’s examine some that other designers have created and analyze them according to the following important criteria:
Design: colors, style, typography, icons.
Usability: What happens if we turn off CSS and JavaScript? Is it still usable?
You may also want to take a look at the following related articles:
Navigation Menus: Trends and ExamplesWeb Form Design: Modern Solutions and Creative IdeasBlock Quotes and Pull Quotes: Examples and Good PracticesFooters: Creative Ideas and ExamplesPagination Gallery: Examples and Good PracticesTag Clouds Gallery: Examples and Good PracticesShopping Carts Gallery: Examples and Good Practices

Gyms use it, broadband providers use it, DVD rental schemes use it, subways use it... Now it's time for taxis to adopt a flat-rate charge. Swiss start-up Taxmobil is planning to offer unlimited taxi use for a EUR 48 monthly fee. Customers will be able to buy a Taxmobil card online or from sales points around the city, and can call for a car to pick them up at whatever time they choose, travelling to any destination in the city. If two strangers are travelling in the same direction, Taxmobil may combine their journeys.
The key to Taxmobil's strategy is the fact that it doesn't own the cars it uses. Instead, it buys the time of idle taxis that are already out and about, creating a service that's affordable and convenient for customers, and could decrease congestion and parking problems if city dwellers trade in their cars for a Taxmobil card.
Böblingen in Southern Germany is likely to be the first town offering the service, starting early 2009, with other towns across Europe to follow. Travel is only permitted within a city, although members will be able to catch a taxi in other participating cities, too. As well as expanding the service’s reach, Taxmobil will soon be extending its package options by complementing its standard EUR 48 subscription with cards for businesses and families. Discounts and member benefits will be made possible with the cards in future, too.
While public transport and bicycles are usually pitched as the green alternative to car ownership, there's something to be said for adding affordable taxis to the mix, offering people the option of individual door-to-door transport around the clock. How the system will work on rainy days, and whether EUR 48/month will leave any room for a profit, remains to be seen. One to watch!
Website: www.taxmobil.ch

2.12.08

Regus, a multinational provider of flexible office space, has a subscription programme developed for mobile professionals. So they can use the Regus services in all 1000 business centers in 450 cities and 75 countries. The Businessworld programme exist out of four different cards and changes the working methods for everyone who find themselves for professional reasons from time to time outside his or her usual office. This program exist out of 4 cards namely:

1. Businessworld Blue: intended for employees who wants from time to time an office, a meetingplace or a studio for videoconferences reserving when they are underway. They offer a 10% discount as well as an administrative service. This card is free.

2. Businessworld Gold: This card has been intended for mobile workers who have no fixed office (tele-workers, sales people, etc.) and in search is of a workplace. With this card they obtain indefinite access to all 1000 " business lounges" equipped with Internet. Furthermore, this card and the relating administrative services offers a 10% discounts on the renting of an office, a meeting place or a studio for videoconferences. This card costs only 200 euro per year.

3. Businessworld Platinum: intended for business travellers who move themselves regularly for their job (both nationally and internationally). Beside all advantages of the Gold Card this card offers free office use of 10 days per month in all Regus centers worldwide. You already have this card for 200 euro per month or 2000 euro per year.

4. Businessworld Platinum Plus: This card was devised for all professionals who spend the bulk of their time on business trips. Beside all advantages of the Gold Card this card offers an indefinite access to their own office in all Regus offices worldwide. This card costs 350 euro per month or 3500 euro per year.
More information on: http://www.nl.regus.be/businessworld/default.html

29.10.08

At a conference held in Frankfurt am Main between 29 and 30 September, 2008, BCC together with PROS Revenue Management presented the opportunities for pricing optimization using IT tools integrated with SAP. The European Pricing Forum 2008 is the year’s most comprehensive event dedicated to pricing & revenue optimization excellence. The organizers of the conference were the European Pricing Platform, an international organization bringing together pricing experts and executives and PROS, the leading US provider of IT solutions supporting pricing optimization. The conference participants had a chance to learn about the outcomes of PROS and BCC cooperation. BCC has developed for PROS a special solution facilitating the integration of PROS products with the clients’ SAP systems. The solution based on SAP NetWeaver enables a faster and more effective integration of the PROS Pricing Solution with the SAP infrastructure used by the clients. “Quoting a well-known study ‘The Price Advantage’ often referred to by the industry experts, a 1% enhancement in the pricing management translates into an 11% profit growth. Hence, the potential for improvements is immense. In our presentation delivered jointly with Andy Dysart from PROS, we showed that the clients using advanced ERP and pricing management tools, find it much easier to implement optimized pricing practices. And the BCC experts are always there to provide quality support in the area of SAP and the extensive pricing knowledge,” said Marcin Gałczyński, Sales and Distribution Team Leader, BCC Consulting Department. About European Pricing Platform (ePP) Founded in 2004, the European Pricing Platform serves as the first European network gathering pricing professionals and CxO-level executives in Europe. Through various workshops, pricing days, trainings, conferences and webinars, ePP is dedicated to develop and share pricing best practices, effective tools, methodologies and populate technological solutions assisting in successful definition and implementation of Strategic Pricing. More: www.pricingplatform.eu

24.10.08

A year ago the British band Radiohead offered their new album 'In rainbows' on the Internet. Fans could decide themselves how much they wanted to spend for the record. Many questions were asked with this kind of internet exploitation. Not everyone was convinced that an album which was firstly free offered on the internet would sell also in the shops. The figures which the editor Warner Chappell had send, astonish friend and enemy. In spite of the Internet act Radiohead did sell 1.75 million copies of the album, internetdownloads not included. Yet, not everyone in the music industry is convinced about free spreading of music. Free music dividing to stimulate sale can only work with big names, thus an insider says. 'Only bands as Radiohead can succeed after such acting, because you will come in all newspapers and magazines.'

23.10.08

Buying Hightech products online are average 14 % cheaper than when buying in electronic shops. To this conclusion came the internet site 'Vergelijk.be.' which compares prices and products. 'Vergelijk.be' compared the shop prices of forty hightech products in thirteen categories with prices of almost ninety web shops from Belgium, the Netherlands and France.

" We took an average of the prices at Media Markt, Vanden Borre and Krëfel followed by a comparison of the same products and their prices at Internet shops. we have also taken the costs of sending the goods into consideration", says Ben Kerkhof of Vergelijk.be. The online prices where on average 13.9% cheaper. Approximately one of the three products were upto 20% cheaper in an Internet shop than in the three examined electro chains.

15.10.08

From the moment of arrival at the airport, there are numberous of possibilities to acquire money of the travellers until they go onto the plane. The annual report 2007 of British Airways gives a good idea where this money is being spend. 150 millions passengers spend in 2007, nothing less than 616 millions euro on the 7 British airports of the group (Heatrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Southampton). The bulk of this money went to the airport carpark, aproximatly, 206 millions euro. In shops on the different airports 93 millions euro has been spend, to food and drink has been 75 millions euro spend. Changing money (the UK does pay in pounds, not in euro) 71 millions was earned; other activities such as car rental and advertisements around the airport ensured the rest. What remarkable is that the average passenger by visit spends scarcely 4 euro. For comparison: a passenger at the airport of Naples - which also is being runned by BA spends average 2.4 euro.

2.10.08

The European Commission wants that Belgium makes an end to the prohibition on cross-belt sales. Also, the sperperiode for the rebates must disappear. Because Belgium lingers about the implementation of these measures - after a first warning letter in 2007, - now an action procedure is being started because of the incomplete transposition of the European rules. The prohibition on cross-belt sales in Belgium dates back to 1971 and prohibits the sale of goods to extremely low prices in order to offer other products to the full price. Belgian courts have tried through the years to determine what exactly 'extreme low' means. EU-Commisioner for consumer policy, Meglena Kuneva says in an interview with the newspaper 'de Tijd' that Europe needs the support of the population for its policy. For example, take the liberalisation of the energy market. Meglena sees in Belgium much concern about the price of energy. There are a lot of complaints concerning expensive electricity bills of Electrabel. Meglena says, if we cannot translate the emancipation of the energy market in our purse, the population will support insufficient the liberalisation.

23.9.08

Microsoft reduces the price of the Xbox 360 in Europe. It has been already the third time that MS has reduced the price of the Xbox 360 since the console has entered the market at the end of 2005. The console, Xbox 360 'Arcade' will cost € 179 instead of € 199, the other two versions, with a hard disk of 60 gigabyte and 120 gigabyte, cost as of now respectively € 239 (compared with € 269 ) and € 299 (against € 369). Earlier on, MS had reduced already its prices in U.S.A. and Japan.

9.9.08

The European Pricing Platform in collaboration with ABeam Consulting and the University of Applied Science in Worms, Germany has launched the 1st European Strategic Pricing Study to validate best practices and identify successful approaches to pricing improvements.

European Strategic Pricing Study and Analysis. This document summarizes results from a study on Strategic Pricing in the European marketplace. The study analyzed survey responses of 70 participating European organizations to uncover best practices for Strategic Pricing definition and execution. The information contained herein presents key highlights of the study that will help organizations understand the interlocking components of a Strategic Pricing Program, its impact on improving sales volume and margins, and success factors for effective Strategic Pricing Management.

Key Findings

Strategic Pricing is gaining strong attention in European executive boardrooms, especially among industry leaders and “top 3” players seeking to enhance their bottom lines and gain competitive advantage by upgrading or replacing obsolete pricing models.
European organizations have realized that Strategic Pricing offers benefits that are hard to find elsewhere, such as superior ROI compared to other business improvement options, low investment risk and a short time to realize benefits.
There is a growing performance gap between organizations that strive to improve their pricing processes and those satisfied with their existing status quo.

Implications

With plans for investments in Strategic Pricing clearly in favor of current top performers seeking to expand their market lead, the future can be extremely challenging for organizations that neglect this critical business area.

Recommendations

Organizations should take a holistic approach to planning and implementing a sound Strategic Pricing Model. Based on the analysis of survey results, it is apparent that successful Strategic Pricing is not a short-term project, but rather a multiple-step program—involving products, pricing strategies and tactics, people and process—which is enabled by information technology and change management.
Organizations should follow a comprehensive execution strategy based on Six Sigma methodology with pricing performance benchmarks and metrics to implement, monitor and continually refine their Strategic Pricing Model. To this end, third-party expertise can provide unbiased opinions, insights and direction on how best to achieve the most effective result

8.9.08

Peugeot and Citroën are devastated by the success of Dacia in West-Europe. Accordingly to the Frech newspaper 'La Tribune': this increases the plans to start a budget brand themselves. PSA wants with a new budget brand models which are overseas produced, such as the Chinese Dongfeng Citroën, to obtain to Europe. Also models which are produced in South-America must end up this way. Generally, those do not entirely satisfy to the high Western European standard. For not damaging the reputation of Peugeot and Citroën they want to create a new brand . As from 2010, the project with the overseas models must start to run.

27.8.08

Can developing free software for mobile phones be a business? It can if you're Illusion Labs, a fledgling company in the Swedish port city of Malmö.
Illusion Labs was started a year ago by Carl Loodberg and Andreas Alptun, who had worked together at another Swedish company called TAT, designing software for companies including Samsung and Nvidia (NVDA). They set up their own company so they could concentrate on developing applications specifically for Apple's iPhone. "When the iPhone came out, we were excited about the big screen, the graphics chip, and the good components," says Loodberg. "We thought it was an opportunity too big to pass up."
It looks like they were right. The first game they developed has become one of the most popular pieces of software for the iPhone. The game is called Labyrinth, a digital update to the old wooden box on which you maneuver a small silver ball through a maze while avoiding cut-out holes the ball could plunge into. The game, which is available for free from Apple's (AAPL) iTunes, is being downloaded 80,000 times a day, according to Loodberg, and is getting rave reviews from users. "Controls extremely precise," wrote one person on iTunes. "Smooth, very fluid, and is realistic," wrote another.
While the game is free, its success could mean rich rewards for Illusion Labs. The company is selling a souped-up version of the game, which is also quite popular, for $6.99 on iTunes. More promising, advertising agencies have contacted the company to develop variations on the game with the logos of advertisers embedded in them.
Marketing and Mobile Phones
Already, Illusion Labs has designed a game called iPint for Carling beer, with the London-based ad agency Beattie McGuiness Bungay (BMB). In iPint, an iPhone user tilts her phone to guide a beer down a bar through a variety of obstacles and into a waiting hand. Once the beer arrives at its destination, the screen changes into a pint glass with Carling's logo on it. It then fills up with a virtual beer, which disappears when the phone is tilted to simulate drinking from a glass. Loodberg and Alptun won't comment specifically on how much they were paid for the work.
This is a new era for marketing and mobile phones. In the past, phonemakers including Nokia (NOK) and Motorola (MOT) and wireless operators such as AT&T (T) and Verizon Wireless (VZ/VOD) kept tight control over what people could do with their mobile phones. That's changing now, as wireless players let customers install new applications on their phones and go where they want on the mobile Web.
Apple, whose phones are sold exclusively through AT&T in the U.S., has been at the leading edge of the trend. When Apple announced its iPhone 3G last month, it also unveiled the iTunes App Store, which lets any independent software developer market its products to the phone's users. Already, there are more than 1,000 applications being offered by developers, from Illusion Labs to Major League Baseball to eBay (EBAY). Other wireless carriers are following the approach of Apple and AT&T. Verizon Wireless has said it will open its network to outsiders. In the future, there will be more opportunities for developers who want to work with a wide range of phones, from Apple's devices to Research In Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry to the mobile phones of HTC.
Read further here :http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2008/tc20080810_846445_page_2.htmSource : http://www.businessweek.com/

This is a must-read article for pricing managers ! Pol Vanaerde - president of the ePP.

The internet is a copy machine. And when copies are super abundant, they become worthless. When copies are super abundant, stuff which can't be copied becomes scarce and valuable.When copies are free, you need to sell things which can not be copied.Well, what can't be copied ?
There are a number of qualities that can't be copied. Consider "trust." Trust cannot be copied. You can't purchase it. Trust must be earned, over time. It cannot be downloaded. Or faked. Or counterfeited (at least for long). If everything else is equal, you'll always prefer to deal with someone you can trust. So trust is an intangible that has increasing value in a copy saturated world.
There are a number of other qualities similar to trust that are difficult to copy, and thus become valuable in this network economy. I think the best way to examine them is not from the eye of the producer, manufacturer, or creator, but from the eye of the user. We can start with a simple user question: why would we ever pay for anything that we could get for free? When anyone buys a version of something they could get for free, what are they purchasing?
From my study of the network economy I see roughly eight categories of intangible value that we buy when we pay for something that could be free.
In a real sense, these are eight things that are better than free. Eight uncopyable values. I call them "generatives." A generative value is a quality or attribute that must be generated, grown, cultivated, nurtured. A generative thing can not be copied, cloned, faked, replicated, counterfeited, or reproduced. It is generated uniquely, in place, over time. In the digital arena, generative qualities add value to free copies, and therefore are something that can be sold.
Eight Generatives Better Than FreeRead more on : http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/01/better_than_fre.php

14.7.08

A study into the highest increased prices are showing some surprising results. Inflation can be felt mainly at the petrol station. Nevertheless, fuel is on the tenth place in top-10 of the largest price increases. The study has been retrieved from the national institute for statistics (NIS) that compared the consumer prices of June 2007 with those of June 2008. Which mysterious product became on a 12 months period almost twice as expensive? It does concern aluminium foil, but - as you probably would think - because the demand for aluminium has increased enormously. No, the price increase has to do everything with extra environment taxes of the government. More surprisingly number two on the list: the price of lemons has increased the last year with 73.11 percent. Furthermore the top 10 list exists especially from ' usual suspects' , amongst energy: fuel became more expensively 62%, natural gas 49% and electricity 37%.

7.7.08

You can save a lot by using pre-paid cards at the petrol station. It already excist in America. The American company MyGallons proposes motorists in own country pre-paid card to purchase, coupled to a fixed price by a litre petrol. On this way, you avoid the fluctuation of the oil prices. In fact you buy with such a card a certain quantity petrol on the price of the day. Afterwards you can refuel, knowing that you will never pay more - but of course also never less - than the purchase price.

Subscription is also needed

It sounds almost too beautiful to be true, of course there are the small lettres. At purchase of such a card you create immediately ' a subscription' at MyGallons. You pay for the subscription annually between 30 and 40 dollars (between 20 and 25 euro). You can upload the card automatically (each time the amount falls under a certain value) or by means of the Internet. " We have already tested the system since April of this year. In the meantime we have an agreement with 95 per cent of the American filling station so that you can use the card almost everywhere, " thus Greg Salsburg, spokesman of MyGallons.

Up to 760 euro a year savings

The company values that the owner of a large car can save up to 1,200 dollars (760 euro). Persons who drive more modestly, can nevertheless count on savings of 530 dollars (335 euro).

sales coach Jaap Bron warns salesmen not to argue concerning the sales price. He did research into the reasons why certain sales deals jump off. In most of the cases it was not due to the high prices. It concerns other bases. It includes factors such as: customers are not getting enough attention, salesmen do not take enough initiative, or do not think properly. Also, not delevering on agreements. `The price is not important. The buyer says: you are too expensive, this is another way to that say he does not like you`. The sales coach has skilful advise for salesmen to prevent negotiations concerning the price. You must never start first on the price, ensure that the customer becomes in a perception environment before the price comes to talk. The perception must stand first when presenting the proposal. When negotiating, never indicate that you are prepared to talk about the price. Then the price will fall.

26.6.08

The `100 dollar laptops `has changed the market for laptops serious. The magnificant design of it in combination with scale advantages makes it possible to produce derisionly-cheap laptops. The 100 dollars laptop are an initiative of Nicholas Negroponte, MIT-professor and founder of the nonprofit organisation One laptop by Child (OLPC). Although Negroponte already had planned it to introduce it in 2005, large-scale investments of governments stayed away. THE XO Laptop cost thus still 200 dollars and there only have been distributed 200 000 copies been distributed. Although Negropontes objectives of worldwide spreading the laptops in developing countries have not been obtained, has the XO the market for laptops broken open by reducing the prices strongly. Thus producing also HP, Intel, Asus and Pioneer computers now laptops against very low prices. According to Negroponte XO it has not become a success because Windows not supported the apparatus (the control system twist on Linux) and because governments do not want to deviate of Windows.

A brit who purchases by means of the English site 'Eurostar' four return tickets (2 adults - 2 children) London - Paris, pays for that € 1,082. When booking by the French Internet site, then he pays scarcely € 600. If it is upon European parlement member Meglena Kuneva, there will become rapidly an end to this. She will submit a proposal to make an end to the practice where web tradesmen use several different prices in several EU countries and where it makes the customers obliged to buy by means of the national Internet sites. If the proposal is adopted, in autumn it will become effective. Kuneva pleads for an identical, simple and clear legislation - including rules for guarantee and refunds for purchasing and selling of goods in Europe, in a attempt to reduce the costs for the consumer.

Sony has made no less than 2.13 billion euro loss on its game console, the PlayStation 3. The reason for this is that Sony sold it under the production price. That is a normal practice in the game industry, where the producers make especially profit on the games. Sony has spend especially much on research, by developing IBM with chips manufacturer Cell-chip. The company lost throw this way 1.39 billion euro in 2007, and 739 millions euro in 2008. Gradually, the game console starts to make profit, certainly now more copies are being sold and because it is cheaper to manufacture them.

6.6.08

Bob Pitmann made 27 years ago music video's for free. That happened when he established MTV. Today, he thinks also that iTunes and similar music libraries their days are counted. `Artists must use their music to build a certain brand, so that money can be earned on concerts and merchandising. Perhaps they must find a sponsor, who buys their last album for a million dollar and then gives it away.' Even the major groups have understand that they cannot live anymore from selling cd's. Income will result from sponsordeals, publicity messages and especially concerts. Label company 'Live Nation' came with the idea to be responsible for all activities for the groups that they have contracted. For example: concerts, merchandising,... Whereas the most of label companies fight to survive, Live Nation gained previous year a turnover of $ 4.2 billion, 12.6% more than one year ago. Especially concerts are a big form of income. Pitmann' s model will obtain eventually somewhere in the following ten years. Artists will give their music tunes away for free as a form of publicity, just like MTV it has done.The sales of cd' s in shops or by means of iTunes, will not survive. Money will come through other channels.

The Antwerp clothing company Scapa Sports, manufacturer of luxurious leisure clothes, is not very pleased that their products are exhibit against lower prices in Makro-shops. The clothing company indicates thereby that Makro is not a customer. A Spanish distributor had send orders to Makro-shops which were intended for shops in Spain. A spokesman of Scapa sport says that as a result the clothing company and its reputation has been damaged. The Scapa clothes cost at Makro-shops up to 20% less then at Scapa Sports. Makro would also have made publicity for the range of Scapa Sports without permission. The Antwerp clothing company will investigate if the practices of Makro and the Spanish distributor are illegal. Makro says that they have not used any illegal practises and acted in accordance to the European legislation. (MH)

5.6.08

Fedis, the organisation which represents the interests of the distribution ventures in our country, claims on the evening of the super council of ministers for an ending of the prohibition on cross-belt sale. According to the present law on the trade practices cross-belt sale has been prohibited. That means that products or services cannot be offered together against one price or that nothing can be given for free when you purchase something, besides a number of exceptions. The federation writes in a press bulletin that `Belgium is the only country in Europe where the prohibition on cross-belt sale still applies. This rule provides also once more a disadvantage to the Belgian traders against the neighbouring countries. Fedis wants to see the prohibition on common offer abolished. ' This measure would mean for example that the I-Phone cannot be sold anymore shortly in Belgium. There hangs on a subscription of Mobile Operator, clearly a case of prohibited offers therefore, ' says Fedis '. Fedis remains, however, against releasing the fixed bargain periods, as minister of economy Vincent Van Quickenborne would want.

2.6.08

The American technology company Microsoft has launched a service which financially rewards internet users when they buy products on the web, by using the search engine of Microsoft. It concerns a strategic move, which Microsoft must allow to gain surfers of their main competitor Google. The new service - provisionally only active in the US, pays their consumers cash money when they buy certain products by means of the comparison site Live Search Cashback. The money comes of advertisers who make publicity by means of the site. About which amount it concerns remains still unclear. On the first site, it concerns discounts between 2 and 5%. The advertisements of these advertisers becomes as of now also on Microsoft' s search engine Live Search accompanied of a golden dollar currency. This must indicate distinction between advertisers who take part, and advertisers who do not take part on the programme. Analysts think that if the program is succesfull and is copied by other search engines as Google it eventually will nibble on the profit of search engines who do not offer these service. The impact on the market is still small: the market share of Microsoft on the search market is until today still smaller than 10%. According to Microsoft 13 of America's 40 largest retailers will take part on the programme. Under them bookshop Barnes & Noble, eBay and The home depot.

28.4.08

Mobile-operator Proximus (Belgacom) has abused many years' its dominant position on the Belgian market. To this conclusion came the auditer of the EU at the Council of competition, after a complaint of competitor base (KPN). Base and Mobistar are claiming damages of € 1 billion. Between 2002 and 2005 Proximus have used` strangle prices' to compete competitors out of the market. Within 6 months will the council of competition result the verdict.

The disappointing European sales of Apple's iPhone seem to ensure a strategic diversion. The American technology company would be prepared to give its share in the income from date movement up - that according to initiates can incur up to 30% -, in exchange of a system in which the smartphone for a lower, subsidised price can be sold, a practice (cross-belt sale) that is prohibited in our country.
Both the French newspaper 'Les Echos', and Italie's 'La Reppublica' published reports in that sense, based on sources within respectively France Télécom and Telecom Italia. Also the differences between the national legislation make the use of a single sale strategy difficult. Thus customers in Germany and France can get hold of the rather expensive iPhone for a superior price, if they link themselves for a longer period to a telecomoperator. Customers in Italy refuse these long-term contracts and 90% of mobile users pay the their conversations in advance with prepaidcards. Last month, Apple has utilsed price falls through for the 8 gigabyteversion of the Iphone.

26.3.08

Six years after the experiment has started are more then 5000 Belgians carsharing. This is mainly happening in the bigger cities where the citizens do not have the capacity of a carparking or do not have the budget available to maintain their own car. Today, Cambio has more then 190 cars available at more then 71 places in 13 cities. When demand is high, Cardio also collaborate with their German Cambio sister affliate. Members can make 24 on 7 use of the facility by callling to a callcenter which is supported by the 'VAB'. Making a reservation for a car can happen from weeks beforehand to minutes before the actual need. There is a choice between 4 different types of car. When renting a car the rate can be an hour, a day or a week. For example renting a ford fiesta for a day and driving 100 km. would have a value of 46 euro. Members at Cambio are switching between carsharing and making use of the public trafic. Furthermore, KMO's are moreoften also making use of the principle of carsharing.

20.3.08

It is a tool that you would rather associate with inexpensive cheap mobile calls. However, using such a kind of card, for example the 'Goldstar Premier Card' can save adequate amounts in trendy boutique hotels. The card is an initiative of the goldstar hotel in Nice. Whoever buys such a card gets spoiled at a fixed price. The card is valid for a period of 10 years and the price is determined by the type of room that has been chosen and obviously the period of stay. Moreover, you can exchange your card with friends or family because the card is not name related. The initiators are promising What's more the with the 'Gold Interval International Card' you can exchange the pre-booked weeks in more then 600 luxuery hotels worldwide.

13.3.08

One of the big advantages supermarkets have long had over consumers lies in the sheer number of products they offer—with some priced higher and others priced lower than the competition, it's near impossible to say that one store offers consistently better (or worse) deals every time. Well, supermarkets, those protected days may be drawing to a close. A new UK-based site provides a central way for consumers to compare prices as they shop online and then place their order with the cheapest store.
mySupermarket is a free shopping and comparison website for supermarket shoppers that links the online portals of the UK's four main supermarket chains and compares prices on the fly. Consumers begin by choosing their favourite store—Tesco, ASDA, Sainsbury's or Ocada—and shopping through mySupermarket's lifelike online shelves. Grocery departments are displayed across the top of the screen, and clicking on any one reveals the shelves within. For each product, mySupermarket displays the weight or volume, price, special offers and price per unit; for foods and beverages, it shows the ingredients, number of calories, an overall traffic light rating, and detailed nutritional information. The best part is that as consumers shop, the site's Trolley Checker scans their trolley and displays its current total cost at each of the four supermarkets. The Price Checker, meanwhile, suggests swapping some products for others that are a better value, while the Health Checker makes suggestions for healthier substitutions. Once consumers settle on their product choices and store, they simply send their trolley for checkout at the supermarket of their choice.
Rumours suggest that a like-purposed site may be coming soon in the US from Grocio.com. Once sites like these give consumers the long-desired ability to comparison-shop for groceries, there will be no turning back. Transparency tyranny strikes again—better get in on this one early if you're in retail!

3.3.08

Consumers stays insensitive for coffee promotions. As for Belgian and Dutch customers the utmost buying decision depends on the brand followed by the price. Thirdly, the consumer pays attention to the promotion. The most impact-full promotion is adding an extra volume to the product. This research was done by the market research office Insites Consulting.

29.1.08

Carlsberg ads say it's " probably the best beer in the world.'' At $400 a bottle, it's now the most expensive.

The brewer, Scandinavia's biggest, introduced a beer today that costs 2,008 Danish kroner ($396.47), the price being based on the year of its introduction. The Vintage No. 1 brew will be sold at three Copenhagen restaurants, including Noma, a holder of two Michelin stars and the world's 15th-best restaurant in 2007, according to S.Pellegrino.

The product, costing 357 times more than Carlsberg's main Danish lager brand, has been developed to challenge luxury wines in the gourmet restaurant market and capitalize on rising individual wealth. Denmark, a country of 5.4 million, has 16 dollar billionaires, according to a list published this month by Berlingske Nyhedsmagasin magazine. The number of billionaires worldwide rose 21 percent last year to 946, Forbes magazine said.

24.1.08

In the U.S. organisers of musicevents are experimenting with a new pricing model. All seats are sold at 100 dollar, except for the best places near the stage. These are sold through auctioning. During a test with the Police, the tickets were sold for 800 dollar.

22.1.08

Back in 2005, we covered Norwich Union's Pay-as-You-Drive program in the UK to charge consumers for auto insurance based on how often, when and where they use their vehicles. Starting in Texas, the United States will soon see a similar service for the first time thanks to MileMeter's "auto insurance buy the mile."

Like Norwich Union's offering, MileMeter will use consumers' usage levels to determine how much they must pay for auto insurance. Unlike Norwich Union's, however, MileMeter will not use any kind of vehicle tracking device to record that usage. Rather, consumers will buy coverage in advance in increments of as few as 1,000 miles; when their odometer reaches the end of that increment, the coverage expires. The cost per mile varies with the geographic area and the age of the driver, but a reasonable ball park for a 30-year-old driver and minimum coverage in a midrange urban ZIP code in Texas might be 4 cents per mile, MileMeter CEO Chris Gay says. Multiple drivers in a household can also be covered for a single vehicle.

Dallas-based MileMeter will launch in Texas this summer, with plans to roll out quickly to other states, Gay says. In the meantime, it's attracted a fair bit of attention, not least because it was one of only seven finalists in the most recent Amazon Web Services Startup Challenge. Because it doesn't use gender as a basis for determining rates, MileMeter has been ardently supported by the National Organization for Women (NOW). And by rewarding drivers who use their cars less, it has the potential to make an environmental impact as well. Sounds like a win-win all around—time for more entrepreneurs to start thinking in increments!

21.1.08

The Dutch homeshopping canals are not doing well. After the problems with Tel Sell and LiveShop it is expected that Liberty TV will be bankrupt. Tour Press is annoucing this after a conversation with director and initiator Jacob Verschuur.

16.1.08

The European Commission will not take any action against the exclusive contracts between Apple and telecomoperators for dealing the iPhone. The right of establishing exclusive contracts between Apple and telecomoperators must be judged on national level.

15.1.08

The more expensive you make the same bottle of wine, the better the wine is do people think. That is a conclusion of a British research. For the English test 20 people had to drink Cabernet Sauvignon. The only information they received was the price of the bottle. And the outcome was: if the same wine costs 7 euros and afterwards over the 50 euros, the most expensive was the most appreciated, altough it was actually the same wine. The same test was done a week later without any price difference and there it could be concluded that there was no difference.

Delhaize lowers the price of more than 500 national brand products. In this manner the retailer wants to strengthen its price positioning. The price decrease will be carried out in the supermarkets of Delhaize, AD Delhaize, City Delhaize, Proxy Delhaize and Shop'n Go of the Delhaize group in Belgium. These prices are defined with the help of a weekly comparison of more than 300.000 products in more than 140 competing shops. Based on this comparison the best competitive price is determined.

10.1.08

The price of agricultural products will continue to increase according to an expert in 2008. While the foodindex of the FAO increased by 40% in 2007, the analist Joe Victor foresees that this trend will at least continue until april 2008. Then there will be more clarity about the new harvests.

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